So it’s not a direct prequel, taking place on a different planet than the one they land on at the beginning of Alien.

Is that a cop-out? Maybe. On the other hand, Ridley Scott clearly went to pains to distance this film from Alien while staying in the same fictional universe.

So I emerged with a vague sense of disappointment, because I’d gone to great lengths to avoid as much pre-publicity and discussion about the film – even going as far as offending some people on the Twitter. But then I do that every day. Probably.

But it turned out that there were no surprises in the film, not really. Even though I’d done my best to learn NOTHING about it, I could have predicted most of it, if asked.

Then I ask myself, what if I had never seen Alien or Blade Runner, two of the best films of all time, and probably the best attempts at science fiction ever committed to screen? Would I still feel disappointed?

And the answer to that is probably not. So in other words, let’s cut Ridley Scott a break. Because he is clearly the best director of fully-imagined future worlds, and that is no small thing. If you loved Alien, you couldn’t help the sense of anticipation you felt going into this. Prometheus looks fabulous, with the kind of production design you’d expect from the fully visual thinker Ridley Scott. The only problem I have with it really is that there are too many characters in it. Alien had a nice small cast, but this one adds at least 11 other characters who don’t do much other than get in the way. Maybe it needed to be longer (I would never say that about a film normally, which is saying something).

3D or 2D? Clearly when a studio is spending this much money, the director has no choice. In reality, Ridley Scott is not stupid enough to think 3D is better. I saw the 2D print and it looked great and at no point did I wistfully look towards one of the 3D screens. My 2D showing was full, too, and not all of us were wearing spectacles.

Ridley Scott hints that he’ll do a Blade Runner film. Please don’t tell me anything about it for the next four years.